Kanto Sentai Pokéranger

(a.k.a. Power Rangers: Pocket Monsters)

This is another idea I’ve been tossing around thanks to various message boards I go to, and I figured, “Hell, Pokémorph is doing better than expected; let’s go with this as well.” So here we go!

The story takes place a little after the Hoenn storyline. The kids are in their teens now (come on, six years and Ash is still 10 or 12 years old? What is this, The Simpsons?)

Usual disclaimers apply. These characters do no belong to me.

Large machinery dotted the landscape of holes carved into the valley. Dark green tents dotted the ground around the perimeter of the site. A team of about thirty archaeologists and scientists backed by natives to the region carefully went to work excavating the valley and making sure the sought-out artifacts are recovered in one piece. Among these scientists was the distinguished professor Samuel Oak.

A leading authority in Pokémon behavior and sociology, Professor Oak was called in to help oversee the excavation of Pokémon fossils unlike none that have ever been seen before. The ruins he and the crew would be digging through suggested that man and Pokémon had lived side-by-side some tens-of-thousands of years ago—and not as the relationship between trainer and his Pokémon, which is the standard for this, the 21^st century. Not Aerodactyl, not Kabuto or Omanyte—hell, not even the discovery of the ancient Mew were going to compare to this discovery, some had bragged.

The ever stalwart professor had taken a break from the digging to get himself some water, finishing off the contents of his canteen. They had made incredible progress on the digging, and the natives have been very helpful in their endeavor. They were digging on Transient Island, a remote island about fifty miles northwest of Cinnabar. While the island was civilized there was a large indigenous population with great influence that wasn’t too thrilled with “outsiders” coming in and tearing up their landscape for their own selfish needs. However, the investors through this project tried their best to convince them that that wouldn’t happen. The natives still didn’t trust them, and negotiations lasted nearly a year before they got permission to dig. Their patience was well rewarded.

“You’re not getting too old for this, are you Gramps?” a voice called out.

The old professor looked over his shoulder and saw his grandson Gary standing at the clearing, a pickax slung over one shoulder. He was dressed in his “classic explorer” look, looking like an Indiana Jones cosplayer with his brown, broad-brimmed fedora and multi-pocketed vest and khakis. Professor Oak was wondering where his whip was.

“Maybe I am, Gary,” he said, “but then again, maybe I’m not. If I really was too old I’d be sitting in a recliner with my feet up in front of the TV. I’ve still got some life in me yet!”

“Yeah, I believe ya,” Gary said, smiling. Since his defeat at the Silver Conference at the hands of his great rival Ash Ketchum, Gary has given up Pokémon training and instead chose the path of a researcher. He said he got tired of training, and decided to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and be a scientist like him. That was about three years ago, and Gary has since been working in his grandfather’s laboratory.

Part of him did miss battling, though. Especially against Ash. Ash always had the best reactions to Gary’s very presence. Watching Ash blow up and lose his cool provided for hours of entertainment for the prodigal grandson. Another part of him wished he was right here now so he could bust his stones some more. Not now, however. Ash was still traveling in the Hoenn region with a bunch of his friends. He said he was returning soon, but had not just yet. Perhaps in another day or two he will be back. And the fun can begin anew, he thought.

“Professor! They’re ready for you!”

The elder and younger Oaks were jarred from their thoughts at the sound of Tracey Sketcher’s voice. Tracey has been living at the Oak estate for several years now, working as Professor Oak’s aide. His dreams of being a Pokémon scientist weren’t prevailing like Gary’s, as he still wished to become a great Pokémon artist. But that didn’t stop him from helping out the man he idolized since he got his first Pokémon, the water-mouse Marril.

“We’re about ready to remove the fossils,” Tracey explained. “Come on, hurry!”

Tracey disappeared back into the cave carved into the cliff, leaving Gary and the professor to themselves. “Well, coming, Gary?” he asked, “This is some pretty exciting stuff!”

“I’ll pass, grandpa,” Gary said with a shrug. “I’m getting bored. I’m gonna go see what else is going on around here. Smell ya later.” Readjusting his pickaxe, he started back down the trail by himself.

As Gary wandered back down the way he came, he twirled his pickax on his shoulder with every few steps. Sure, it was enjoyable spending time with his grandfather again, but Gary found excursions like these boring. While he wasn’t a trainer and only had full-time contact with his Umbreon, at least he was working with other Pokémon. After all, wasn’t his new goal to be a Pokémon researcher like his grandfather? What good would hanging around all these nameless, faceless bums do for him? Not much, if you asked Gary Oak.

A few meters before hitting base camp, Gary noticed a small opening in the canyon wall, seemingly forgotten in the rest of the commotion. Since no one else had paid it any attention, he decided to look through it himself. He checked his vest pockets, making sure he had a working flashlight. When he found he did, he proceeded inside.

He was immediately glad he brought the flashlight with him. He got about ten steps into the cave before visibility dropped to nearly nothing. The flashlight was clipped to his vest, allowing him to have both hands free as he explored. Apparently the other archaeologists didn’t find very much of interest after too long, and left the area for more promising digs.

“Looks like they gave up too easily,” Gary mused. “Oh well. Less people to get in my way. Let’s…see what we’ve got.”

Gary grabbed his pickax, twirled it a few times, and started swinging. Chunks of rock started to come loose and break away. Driven on by his momentum, he kept swinging faster and harder, pushing further into the cave. After hacking through about a foot of canyon wall, his tool hit something hard and metallic. The loud clank drove a wave of hope through him.

He dusted at the surrounding rock with his hand, revealing what appeared to be a door. He grabbed a small spade from one of his vest pockets and began to pry away at the dirt and rock blocking the mysterious door. After several long minutes of digging and brushing, the door in question was fully uncovered.

“Wow,” Gary breathed, “amazing!” He stepped back from the sealed door and got a good, long look. The door had a large mural carved into it, depicting six small figures in quasi-heroic poses, each one bejeweled with gemstones of different colors—from left to right, there was one in sapphire, one in jade, one in diamonds, one in onyx, one in rubies, and the last in sphalerite. The aforementioned poses were all fighters standing legs shoulder width apart, their left hand on their hip and their right hand pointed up and outward. The background depicted chaos, destruction and despair. However, the six figures flanked by a large magical symbol were pushing back the approaching evil. What shocked Gary about the sigil was the design of it—it was the symbol of a Pokéball used in this day and age! A circle in the middle of a larger circle, with a section on either side of the bigger circle cut out. Just…what was this?

“I…” Gary stammered, “I gotta find more. I gotta—does this thing open?” He saw a seam going straight down the middle of the mural. It was indeed a door, but how did it open? Taking his spade, he stuck it in the crease as hard as he could, until it stuck. He hit it with the butt of the pickax until it wouldn’t move any more, and then tried prying the spade with his hands. The door didn’t budge. He tried harder, putting his entire weight into it, only to have the handle snap off and Gary crash to the ground.

He got up, and dusted himself off. He tossed the broken handle away and looked back at the door. “Okay, that idea bombed,” he muttered, putting one hand on the door and leaning on it. Gary failed to realize he put his hand on the Pokéball-like sigil in the middle of the door. It was there for about a second before it glowed brightly for a few seconds. Gary didn’t see the glow or even know about it until the door opened on him. The thick, heavy doors opened with a loud groan, revealing a larger inner sanctum.

“Phew,” Gary said with a whistle. “Fuck fossils, this is the mind-blowing discovery of the century!” The inner sanctum looked like it was part of a church, a shrine to whatever god or gods the people who built it worshipped. The left and right walls were adorned with life-sized versions of the six colored warriors. Again, he found the Pokéball-like sigil on a much larger scale on the back wall. This time, the stone carving on the wall equated it to the sun. Below the sigil was an altar with a black case sitting on top of it. “Wish I had a camera with me…”

The case was made of aged leather and wood, and it was closed, but surprisingly not locked. Gary approached carefully, his eyes not leaving the case for a second. His hand slowly reached out for it, only to sharply snap it back as it rumbled ever-so-slightly. His breath was caught in his throat. Did that just happen? He reached out again, and when it didn’t move again, he exhaled.

“Wonder what’s inside…”

Gary carefully pushed the lid of the box open. The lid flopped back against its hinges, revealing six small, shiny crystal-like objects. They looked like holstered Pokéballs, like they belonged on someone’s belt. They were all color-coordinated with one of the warriors painted on the walls—red, yellow, green, blue, white and black. They seemed to have a magnetic effect on the young, aspiring scientist. He reached out to them, seemingly in a trance.

That trance was short lived. One of the crystals (he couldn’t tell which one) glowed brightly, encompassing the other five in the set. Its light encompassed everything in the room until eve Gary was overwhelmed by it. He screamed when it felt like someone hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer.

* * * * *

Professor Oak ran towards where the commotion was coming from, flanked by several of his aides and a few locals. A sudden, huge rumble resounded throughout the site, drawing everyone’s attention. Oak was especially worried when Gary’s face down, unconscious body was discovered at the epicenter of the tremor.

“Gary!” he shouted, kneeling beside his young protégé. “Gary, wake up!”

Gary groaned and looked around, confused. His chest still hurt, but when he pulled himself up to his knees to see if he was wounded, he found nothing. “Wh…what happened?” he mumbled.

“We were about to ask you the same thing,” Tracey said, squatted down beside Gary. “What is this place?”

Gary pulled himself into a sitting position. “I don’t know. I was digging around and I found this…shrine, or something. There were…”

“Professor, take a look at this!” an aide shouted, bringing an old, leather box over to the three. Gary gasped and recoiled. This was the same case he last saw before being laid out. The case was opened, and again, Gary saw it glow. “This was on that altar over there. These five…gemstones, I guess…are unlike anything you’ve ever seen!”

“Oh, man!” Tracey breathed. “What are they?”

“I don’t know,” the aide answered.

“I’ve never seen such things…and why is one of them glowing?” the Professor said.

“No, wait, shut it!” Gary shouted, leaping toward the box. It fell out of the aide’s hands, and Gary slammed the lid down. Seconds later, it shook violently, like something was bouncing around in there. After a few moments, it died down.

“What in blazes was that?” Professor Oak asked.

“I…don’t know,” Gary breathed, “and I don’t want to know.”

As much as he didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but look back at the strange box. He could’ve sworn that there were six of those little crystals in there and not just five. There were six, right? Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Or perhaps he was still groggy from being plowed over by whatever magical force those things contained?

What the hell are these things?!

As Gary pondered these questions, the whole room began to shake. Sounds reverberated from an unknown source, sounding like spirits moaning. The bejeweled murals began to glow, soon followed by the carvings of demons and other life forms. The scientists and archaeologists, not knowing what was going on, began to panic. Spirits emerged from the walls and flew around in crazy patterns. The panicked screams of the people matched the wailing of the spirits. It wasn’t until one dove headfirst at Professor Oak did Gary and Tracey scream, though.

“Professor!” “Grandpa!” Tracey and Gary shouted over one another.

He lay there still for a few moments. Eerily, he sat up, looking around with a bit of a glazed look in his eyes. He quickly shook out those cobwebs.

“Grandpa, are you alright?” Gary urged.

The old man accepted Gray and Tracey’s assistance in getting him to his feet. “I’m fine,” he said coolly. His eyes still had a glassy look to them…

* * * * *

“Professor!”

The familiar voice of Ash Ketchum rang throughout the laboratory as Ash and his friends entered, looking for the trainer’s mentor. It had been five long years since Ash left on his Pokémon journey, and much has changed since then. The days of the immature, forgetful and reckless Ash were a thing of the past, and in its place was the sharp, established and reckless Ash. And just as always, his ever faithful Pikachu was seated on his shoulder. While some parts of his attitude refused to go away, his skills as a Pokémon trainer were growing exponentially. He rarely lost any major battles, and he was making the name Ketchum a household name in the world of Pokémon. It was almost as well-known as Oak. Almost.

And while the Ash of old would’ve reacted in a nigh-comical way to the notion of him and Misty being in love or boyfriend and girlfriend, this Ash made no attempt to hide the site of his and Misty holding hands, fingers entwined and giving an occasional reassuring squeeze. Misty had grown into a knockout herself, filling out her yellow and red body suit with matching yellow half-jacket better than she ever did that old halter top and über-short shorts. Her hair was longer and still held in the side pony tail she was best known for.

Brock was also with his old friends, but it wasn’t always that way. After preventing a disaster at his Pewter City gym, he traveled to Hoenn and hooked up with Ash and another young trainer he had an eye on. Her name was May, and like Brock and Misty, she came from a family of gym leaders. Unlike her gym leader family, however, she was more interested in the more artistic side of Pokémon. She loved Pokémon competitions, and was becoming quite skilled at them. Her Beautifly won her more than her share of competitions. By her side was her little brother, a super genius by the name of Max. What he lacked in Pokémon skills he made up for in intelligence.

“Hello, Ash!” the Professor said as he found the five young people who entered his lab. He shook Ash’s hand enthusiastically; it had been years since he left for his journey, and he had only seen him occasionally in between then. “My, my, it’s been so long. You’ve certainly grown into a fine young man, Ash.” He looked at Brock and Misty. “You two have grown since we’ve last met, too.”

“It’s good to see you again, Professor,” Misty said with a smile. She leaned over and put her head on Ash’s shoulder.

“Yes, it has been a while.”

“Wow,” Max breathed. “So you’re the Professor Oak. I’ve heard so much about you!”

The professor laughed. “Yes, I’m sure you have.”

“So how did the expedition go?” Brock asked. “Mrs. Ketchum told us you were out in the countryside looking for some sort of rare fossils, or something?”

“Oh, it was great!” Tracey said. “You should’ve been there!”

“Yes. The expedition was very successful.” He led the five kids towards the back of the lab, Tracey a step behind him. “Many of the fossils we discovered date back more than a hundred million years ago,” he explained, “far older than any Pokémon previously discovered.”

“What do they look like?” Ash asked. The idea of a new Pokémon – even if “new” meant just discovered after millions of years of extinction – captivated the young Pokémon master from Pallet Town.

“We don’t know that yet. Also you’ll understand that not all of the fossils were of whole ancient Pokémon. Many of them were bits and pieces; the remaining pieces of these ancient Pokémon are out there somewhere, but that is still a mystery.”

“Sorting the bones out and putting the skeletons together will be a feat in itself,” Tracey added.

“What else did you find, Professor?” Misty asked.

Something clicked inside him at that point. It felt like he didn’t have controls of his speech. “There was this other remarkable discovery that my grandson Gary made,” Professor Oak explained. “Wait here and I’ll get it.” He walked off, leaving the six young people to themselves.

Tracey looked at May and Max. He had seen the two of them on various video phone conversations the Professor had with Ash, but he never met the two of them face to face. “So…what’s your gimmick?” he asked May.

“Me? I’m a Pokémon coordinator,” she explained.

“What…what’s that?” Tracey obviously had idea what a Pokémon coordinator was.

“Mostly beauty pageants,” she explained, “There’s some battling involved, but mostly it’s about whose Pokémon is the brightest, biggest most beautiful star!” She spun on one foot with her other leg extended, the Pokéball containing Beautifly held high above her head.

“You any good?”

“Yeah,” Max said, “she’s pretty good.”

“Pretty good?!” She spun on her heel to Max, who cringed.

Someone cleared their throat. They turned to where the noise came from. There was the Professor, holding a strange, black box in his hands. He set it down on a table, and turned to the kids again.

“What was in this case was absolutely amazing,” he explained. Everyone gathered around, looking at the box.

“Are there fossils in there?” Ash asked.

“Even better. These came from what appeared to be a temple belonging to an ancient civilization. Look!” Professor Oak opened the box, and anxiously, the kids gathered around. Inside were five small crystal orbs. They were each the size of condensed Pokéballs, and were each a different color—white, blue, yellow, red and green. They each had a strange, luminescent glow about them.

“Wow!” Ash said. “What are they?”

“Don’t know,” Tracey explained, “but they’re not acting up like they were when we found them.”

“Acting up?” Max asked. “Acting up how?”

“When we found them, they were jumping around like they wanted to shoot off and fly away. It was really weird. Hell, we slammed the lid on the box and it jumped up and around like something was trapped inside. You should’ve seen it!”

“Wow, that’s weird,” Ash said.

There was a sound like wind whipping up around them, and their attention was drawn back to the five little crystals. They were glowing brighter now, and started to hover above their heads.

“Wow, that’s weirder,” Misty stated.

The five spheres began swirling around in a circle. The young people’s eyes were fixed on them, almost in a trance. They would’ve stared at them forever if the sound of pained breathing and gasping for breath hadn’t made its presence.

Tracey was the first to spot it. “Professor?” Sure enough, Professor Oak had fallen to one knee, a hand clutching his chest. His eyes were wide and sweat covered his brow. “Professor!” he shouted. He tried to run over to him, but he was kept from doing so…by the little crystals floating above them.

Though they were as big as a golf ball, they hit with the force of an 18-wheeler going 65 miles an hour. Just ask Tracey. He got it first, as the yellow crystal stopped floating in a circle and flew like a bullet right at his chest. And since he was in mid dash trying to help the Professor, he was blown away like a dead leaf in a gale, hitting an equipment-laden table with a loud crash. Brock was the next victim, and while he was the biggest of the five teenagers in the room, he still skidded a good distance and collapsed to his knees after being hit in similar fashion by the green crystal. Max watched helpless as his sister May got floored by the red crystal and skidded across the cold, tiled floor from the impact. He was afraid if he moved, he too would be laid out by…whatever the hell those things were. Misty got it next, the impact from the force of the blue crystal caused her to flip over and nearly land on her head. She collapsed face down against the floor. That left Ash and the white crystal. In the blink of an eye, the last crystal shot out and got Ash right in the chest, the impact lifting him off his feet and slamming him into a wall on the far side of the lab. Pikachu was catapulted off his shoulder and landed on his feet. Aside from the pained groans of the Professor and the others, the room was now silent.

Slowly, surely, Ash, Brock, Misty, Tracey and May pulled themselves to their feet. They felt ready to collapse again, the pain from having those things driven into their chests at high velocity still lingering. Instinctively they looked down at the point of impact, only to see something most surprising. The spot where they hit was now giving off an intense glow.

“What the hell is this?!” Ash shouted. The white glow coming off his chest was almost blinding. Brock repeatedly covered the glowing spot with his hands and removed them, finding the light return just as bright.

“Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop…” May repeated over and over, trying in vain to dust the glowing spot off her body. She was whimpering and flailing her hands. Max was starting to panic too, the sight of her sister in an unusual state of panic and anxiety very unfamiliar to the eleven-year-old genius.

“There is nothing to worry about,” a stern voice called out. “Everything is as it should be.” Ash and the others heard the voice and looked for the source. Professor Oak was standing there, his hands behind his back. His eyes were glazed over, like he was in a trance.

“P…Professor?” Brock squeaked. “I-is that you?”

“It is…and it isn’t,” he replied.

“What have you done with the professor?” Ash asked.

“Peace, peace,” he coaxed. “I mean you no harm. I am merely using this old man’s body as a…host, if you will.”

“What are you, anyway?” Misty asked.

“I am—or at least was—Degenhart. In the past I was high priest of the Order of the Power. I understand you young people have many questions, and I will do my best to answer them. I know quite more than you may be aware of…Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, Brock Ballas, Tracey Sketcher, and May and Max Smart.”

The aforementioned kids gasped. “How do you know our names?” they asked in unison.

“The Professor’s mind is like an open book. I simply used his memories and knowledge as reference.”

“What happened to you?” Max asked. “Did you…uh…” At a loss for words, Max rubbed his chin trying to think. “Gee, how do I put this…?”

“I did live once, young man,” Degenhart clarified, “and I did die. Æons ago, before we became nothing more than the bounty of an archaeological expedition, my civilization lived peaceably with the Pokémon of that era. But our peace was shattered when an interdimensional warlord named Pandion invaded and laid waste to our world. Humanity and Pokémon-kind would have been wiped out had it not been for the intervention of a battalion of warriors called Power Rangers. With their combined power, they neutralized this threat, and sealed his soul in a great tomb, never to be opened. The rangers, realizing we were still defenseless against future threats to this world, left us with powers to call our own, powers concentrated in those crystals that sought you out. They stayed for a while, training our bravest warriors to become Power Rangers themselves.

“It turns out that there weren’t any threats to our world that needed the attention of the Power Rangers. In time, the original Rangers passed away, and the crystals were enshrined in our main temple…and they would’ve remained that way had they not been opened a few days ago. However, what is done is done. We can do no more than prepare to combat the evil that will descend upon this world. And the only way to do that is to recruit a new team of Power Rangers for the modern age—you five.”

“Us?” they all shouted at once.

“Yes.”

“But why us? We don’t know anything about being a Power Ranger!” Brock argued.

“I say you five because the powers chose you. Those Pokécrystals, if you will, chose you because of your unique talents, your personalities, and your attitudes. Your righteousness is ideal for a Power Ranger, and is why you are charged with defending the Earth from the return of Pandion. However, you cannot be forced into service. To be fully initiated as Power Rangers, you have to accept the powers and responsibilities with all your heart.”

“And if we don’t…?” Tracey asked.

“No one has rejected the powers of a Power Ranger before. Therefore, I cannot say for certain. I can only assume that the Pokécrystal will search this planet for someone else who deserves such power.”

“Uh…huh…”

“Well I don’t know about any of you guys, but I’d love to be a part of this!” Ash shouted, clenching his fist. “You don’t get chances like this, and I’m not letting this one get away! What about you guys?”

The others weren’t as sure, nervous glances passed all around. “I don’t know…” May said.

“Could we have a moment to talk this over?” Brock asked.

“Very well. But I implore you, don’t dawdle. Time is of the essence, young people. We cannot afford hesitation.”

Brock, Misty, May and Tracey turned away and huddled together, their voices low and their heads bowed.

“So what do you say, guys?” Brock asked.

“This is big,” May said. “But…it could be…interesting.”

“The whole world’s gonna depend on the five of us?” Tracey asked.

“Probably,” Misty said. “But knowing Ash, this is right up his alley. He’s saved the world a few times before; this’ll be a walk in the park for him.”

“No wonder he jumped at the opportunity,” Misty added. “This is just like him.”

“You should do this, May!” Max pleaded. “Just imagine…my sister, a Power Ranger!” He readjusted his glasses as he said that. May rolled her eyes.

“Guys?”

Everyone looked up and at Ash, his eyes pleading for a decision. Ash hoped that they would accept this opportunity. His biggest fear right now wouldn’t be what evils they would face or what destruction could befall the Earth if they failed. No, his biggest fear would be doing this by himself, without his friends fighting beside him.

The others walked forward. “Alright, I can’t follow Ash’s energy, but I’m down,” Brock stated.

“Me too,” Misty said.

“I’ll do it,” Tracey said.

“Same here,” May concluded.

“Excellent,” Degenhart said with a smile. He made a gesture with his hands, and the kids’ bodies flared up for a few seconds, engulfing the lab in blue, green, red, white and yellow lights. When the lights receded, they found themselves staring at their Pokécrystals, each giving off a soft glow. “Your ranger colors are the same as those of the Pokécrystals that selected you. They act as the source of your powers, the conduit in which your entire ranger arsenal flows.”

“May Smart…you are to be given the powers of the Red Ranger.” Red energy flared up around her like fire, and when it died down, she was wearing the red Power Ranger uniform.

“Tracey Sketcher…to you I give the powers of the Yellow Ranger.” Tracey glowed like a beacon before the yellow Power Ranger uniform clad his body.

“Brock Ballas… you are granted the powers of the Green Ranger.” Energy crawled over his body like fast growing kudzu, fusing to form the green Power Ranger uniform.

“Misty Waterflower…the powers of the Blue Ranger are yours.” Her entire body seemed to ripple like the surface of a lake when a stone is cast into it, and when it stopped, she was wearing the blue Power Ranger outfit.

“And finally, Ash Ketchum…your righteous heart and strong sense of justice are exactly what this world needs. Therefore I am pleased to bestow unto you the mantle of leadership, and give you the powers of the White Ranger.” Ash gasped in surprised. Leader? Me? He had these questions going in his mind as he felt the rush of power overtake him. The power manifested as white or “holy” fire, the residue from such leaving him in the white Power Ranger uniform. Once the transformations subsided, they looked at one another, examining the uniforms.

Each ranger’s uniform denoted the color of that ranger, and were the solid color save for the boots, gloves and belts. The uniforms bore the “Pokéball” sigil on the chest, and on the ankle of each boot and on the back of each glove. The fingers of the glove were the color of the individual ranger up to the first knuckle. On the left side of the belt sat the Pokécrystals, encased in a small mechanical device known as a Morpher, which was designed to look (and act, when they activated their powers) like a Pokéball, like they were no different from ordinary trainers. On the right hip were holsters that held laser blasters that most closely resembled Ithaca Model-A shotguns (the half-barreled models). The trim of each uniform (boots, belts, gloves) were white except for that of the White Ranger. Ash’s uniform was white trimmed in black, while the others were red/blue/green/yellow trimmed in white.

“This is unreal…” Misty breathed, looking at her body clad in the Blue Ranger uniform. She found the gloves to be most alluring—blue Pokéball sigil and blue fingertips on a mostly white glove…

“It is real, Power Rangers,” Degenhart said. “You and you alone are all that stands in the way of the forces of evil. The battles ahead will be difficult, but as long as you work together there is nothing you won’t be able to accomplish. The Power will always be by your side, and so will I.”

“That reminds me,” Tracey said, “when are we going to get the Professor back? I’m sure he doesn’t approve of his body being hijacked like that.”

“I am well aware of your concern for your mentor, Yellow Ranger,” he answered. “I can assure you, my presence within Professor Oak is causing him no harm. Though I must say he is quite…upset…with not being in control of himself at the moment. Nevertheless, in time, one of two things will happen—I will create a body of my own using someone’s genetic material, or I will simply transfer all my knowledge of the Power and your abilities to him, eliminating the middle man, if you will.”

“Does he know what’s going on?” May asked.

“Somewhat. I will explain it all to him later.” His eyes shifted. “Once he calms down, of course.” Everyone else laughed a little.

* * * * *

The sun was shining in the afternoon as Delia Ketchum worked in her garden. The sky was a crystal clear blue and birds sang their songs in the tree branches. The steadfast Ms. Ketchum was in the back yard of her house, watering her home-grown vegetables and picking those that were ripe enough to be picked from there stalks. In her front yard, her Mr. Mime, her Pokémon butler and housekeeper, was watering the daisies, tulips and daffodils growing along her white, picket fence.

His task of watering the flowers done, Mr. Mime turned and headed for the porch and grabbed the broom. He sang happily as he swept the patio and the pathway. Normally it would take a great deal for Mr. Mime to be snapped out of a task he enjoyed so much like sweeping. And while it would seem that a whole lot of nothing isn’t anything to get upset over, such wasn’t the case. Being a Pokémon, Mr. Mime was more attuned to nature than your average human. Therefore, when a gust of wind blew some dust around, only the mimicry Pokémon took notice.

Especially considering that the dust solidified and assumed a humanoid form. And there wasn’t just one of them. By the time the wind stopped blowing a total of ten of these dust born creatures were out and about, looking for trouble.

“Miiiiime!” {“Holy hell!”} Mr. Mime shouted. The mime dropped his broom and ran over to Ash’s mom to alert her of the danger.

“What is it, Mr. Mime?” she asked as he ran over. “Is there something wr—aieeeeeeeeee!” Her ear-piercing scream could be heard for almost a mile. She cowered behind her watering can as the squadron of…whateverthehelltheyare’s followed Mr. Mime into the yard and started circling around her menacingly. These things were dust brown and had bony protrusions curving around their forearms, shins and chests, much like a Houndour or Houndoom. They made strange noises like incoherent gibberish as they circled around the frightened woman and her Pokémon.

“M-Mr. Mime,” she stammered, “do something!”

Acting fast, Mr. Mime swung his big, wooden hand at one of the monsters, slapping it aside. He dashed through the crowd as the first one fell over, dragging Ms. Ketchum by the hand and back inside the house. She locked the front door, and watched in shock as those things danced around her front porch. She wondered what she was going to do to get these things to go away. She wondered where her son was…of course! Professor Oak’s!

* * * * *

“Mom?” Ash said, picking up the phone. His mother’s distraught image on the video screen sent a chill through him. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

“Y-you…you’re not going to believe this…out-outside the house…” she stammered.

“What, mom? What’s wrong?” The other Rangers gathered around the video phone to see what got Mrs. Ketchum so upset. They were back in their regular clothes, as their Ranger uniforms were just a demonstration. When they morphed for real, they would have their helmets, the last piece of their uniform.

“Look!” she shouted, turning the phone’s camera toward the window. Those same creatures that attacked Delia earlier were still milling about wanting in. The kids gasped in shock. What the hell are those things?

Instantly, Ash knew this was part of the evil Degenhart was talking about. “Mom, just stay put,” he told her, “my friends and I are on our way over right now.”

“But Ash—”

“We’ll take care of it!” He didn’t wait for her to respond as he slammed the receiver down. He turned to his friends. “Come on, we gotta stop those things and keep them away from my mom!”

“Right!” Brock, Tracey, Misty and May answered. They sprinted out of the lab and down the path to the main street and towards the Ketchum residence.

TO BE CONTINUED……………